Restorative justice is theme of gripping story

THE idea of restorative justice is an interesting, if not controversial one: defined by restorative.org it’s “a theory of justice that emphasises repairing the harm caused by criminal behaviour.

“It is best accomplished through co-operative processes that allow all willing stakeholders to meet, although other approaches are available when that is impossible. This can lead to transformation of people, relationships and communities. One of the responses is for role players to organise a meeting between the victim and the perpetrator, sometimes with members of the wider community present”.

Claudia Winters escapes from a life of fear and trauma, not only from the criminal ways but abusiveness of her husband, Marcus Huxley-Browne. When Marcus is jailed for his latest crime, she and her daughter, Jasmine, move to the small, picturesque town of Kesterly, where her mother, Marcy, is to set up house with them.

Claudia and her family change their names to escape her maleficent husband, whose reach seems to extend far beyond prison.

Soon her skills as an interior designer are put to use by the community, and grandmother, mother and daughter seem to have an almost perfect life.

Meanwhile, interspersed with the primary narrative is the secondary but equally pivotal story. Archie Colbrook spends his time writing letters – to the stranger to whom he committed terrible harm.

Archie is well aware that he does not deserve forgiveness. He was given a brief and keeps telling himself he didn’t mean to hurt anyone. But he tears himself apart, asking himself whether it matters.

Soon there are hints that the past will not stay hidden forever in the household of women, and when it does emerge, it is in a manner beyond anyone’s imagination.

One terrible night, the cocooned life that the small family so carefully built up is destroyed in minutes, leaving a dreadful residue.

The story goes back and forth between the perpetrator and the victims, and Lewis cleverly and subtly introduces the concept of restorative justice.

It’s a well-written and gripping book, filled with delightful descriptions of emerging romances and self-affirmation – a remade life – and how even those to whom indelible damage has been caused can find it within themselves to forgive. As well as those who seem to be caught in a never-ending spiral of hopelessness.